Bill O’Reilly looks pretty in pink. Well, against pink at any rate. That’s how the conservative talk-show host’s mug shot appears in the Name That Republican card deck—a field guide to the Svengalis, standard-bearers and idealogues of the GOP. In this gifty retail offering from Chronicle Books, O’Reilly’s exaggerated scowl is perfectly offset by a certain soft, feminine hue.

It’s one of countless design decisions that help turn up the volume on the deck’s laugh track, but this novel project actually came with a fairly long list of parameters. By the time Design Army got involved, the concept was well under way at Chronicle, which had already chosen an illustrator, card size and paper stock. Design Army, however, didn’t treat this scenario as a production job. “A good designer takes it to another level within the parameters,” says design director Pum M. Lefebure. “It’s not about taking the easy way out.”

The deck’s oversized cards—3 x 5 in.—feature 50 famous Republicans in baseball-card fashion. There’s a humorous illustration on the front of each card, along with basic identifiers: name, birth date, nickname and position. Flip a card over and you’ll learn about the individual’s all-true antics. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s fun-facts section, for instance, lets you know that he once won a Munich stone-lifting competition by hefting a 560-lb. rock. There’s also an accordion-fold quiz card to test your GOP IQ.

Keeping this innately amusing content in mind, Lefebure wanted to avoid the humdrum visual choices you’ve seen on election yard signs and mailers. “The political scene is boring,” Lefebure says. “You see red, white and blue constantly. We tried to take it and make something compelling.” And what better way to grab attention than with a bold color palette that wouldn’t look out of place at a circus? There are 10 different color palettes (four shades apiece) for the cards, and each is repeated five times to strike the perfect balance between variety and continuity.

The unexpected palette also serves another important purpose: It signals the target audience that this is a humorous deck—not an education tool for young Republicans. “I like the idea of Bush with a girly color,” says Lefebure about the President’s bright-orange trappings. And this gender-bending treatment cuts both ways: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice exudes a masculine feel with navy blue on brown. Such deliberate choices add a touch of absurdity, and they’re calculated to engage liberals with their minds on politics as the 2008 election approaches.

The front of each card presents a straightforward layout that allows the illustration to play the starring role. Design Army made sure these head-and-shoulder likenesses were worthy of the spotlight. They amped up illustrator Alex Fine’s black-and-white line drawings with color and worked with him to get all the details just right. Talking head Ann Coulter’s angular features, for instance, mirror her tough-talking ways, while comedian Dennis Miller’s smirk makes him seem like he just left a bar.

With the most famous Republicans, there was more room to up the giggle factor. “We had [Fine] revise Dick Cheney a couple times,” Lefebure says. “He looked too normal.” The creative direction: “Can you make it look like he’s about to take a poop?” The humorous illustrations, however, never lapse into caricatures. It’s a move that allows lesser-known figures like Grover Norquist and Donald Sherwood to remain as recognizable as possible.

The reverse side of the cards is where the heavy lifting really came into play. “When we saw the text, we thought, ‘Oh, my god, how are we going to fit all this?’” Lefebure says. There’s a substantial array of items for each person: identifying characteristics, fun facts, conservative credentials, greatest personal achievement, greatest personal failure and quotable quotes. The lengthy text could easily weigh down what’s essentially lighthearted play meant to spark a lively discussion. To make matters worse, the word count varies considerably from card to card. (Some GOP members appear to have more skeletons in their closets than others.)

So Design Army developed a solution that’s both visually appealing and user-friendly: A simple two-column grid augmented with boxes, lines and arrows breaks up text with ease, no matter what the length. The approach separates copy into bite-sized chunks buyers might read out loud at a cocktail party. But these choices are also a textbook example of content-driven design, subtly mimicking the look of the voting ballots that became so controversial in the 2000 presidential election. It’s another detail intended to appeal to a liberal audience.

This design also earns bragging rights for the way everything works so well together. “Usually when we do a project, we’ll tell the designer there’s one star per page,” Lefebure says. “Here everything is important.” The layout allows all the elements—illustration, color and text—to deliver a winning punch line together that might fall flat in isolation. Former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s beauty-queen grin, for example, seems funnier in a retro blue-and-brown color palette. The text below lists his temper-management rating and “Rudy the Rock” nickname to complete the effect.

All this harmony, however, doesn’t matter if busy shoppers never buy the deck and break open the package. Since you can’t open the box in the store, the outer shell needs to entice people enough to part with $9.95. Five famous Republicans do the advertising: Arnold Schwarzenegger looks like he’s flirting with Condoleezza Rice, while Bush has his hand up to his mouth like Mini Me. “Alex redid Bush two or three times, because it wasn’t quite right,” Lefebure says, adding, “He can easily become too serious-looking.”

The color palette also makes a splash on the box, providing quick shorthand that lets you know there’s wit inside. It’s also important that the Name That Republican title plays so big. This game show-esque title hints at the humor inside, and it’s large enough to catch your eye when competing for attention on a crowded shelf. The back of the box follows a format similar to the back of each card—breaking up text into bite-size blasts of humor. It provides a sneak peek at the deck’s tone while offering a preview of the overall look and feel.

It’s refreshing that this project manages to be consistently funny—and smart—in a way that’s never outright mean. The overall effect is more Mad magazine than scathing op-ed or political mud-slinging. It keeps the game fun and lighthearted rather than heavy-handed. Lefebure, however, wasn’t concerned about the design going too far. “I never worry about offending people,” she says. “It’s better to present something over-the-top and have the client ask you to tone it down than try to be conservative.” Sounds like the perfect attitude for a project that’s decidedly liberal.

Then there’s the million-dollar question: Does Lefebure align herself with the Democrats or Republicans? “I’m a Democrat, but I can’t vote,” she says. “I’m a permanent resident.” Good news for all 50 movers and shakers with their mugs in the Name That Republican deck.

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Design Army | Designers: Pum Lefebure, Jake Lefebure, Julia Ames | Illustrator: Alex Fine | Authors: Doug Mayer, Hamilton Street | Editor: Jason Scher (Chronicle Books) | Project Manager: Anne Donnard (Chronicle Books) | Production Coordinator: Michelle Clair (Chronicle Books)